Presented at Variety in Chemistry Education in 2012, this covers the use of screencast presentations in 1st year chemistry teaching

1. Taking the Timetable Out of Oral
Presentations
Variety in Chemistry Education
Dr Katherine J. Haxton
September 2012

2. Timetable-less Presentations
o Oral Presentations known to be valuable
o Timetable frequently dictates teaching methods
o Act of preparing presentation as important as
giving presentation
o Screencasts frequently used by teachers…but can
be used by students too.
o Self-, Peer- and Tutor- Assessments combined
with reflection

3. First Year Chemistry Assignment
o 10% of Module Mark (replace 1 class test)
o Presentation on general topic
o List of suggested topics given
o Students sign up to topic to avoid overlap
o Produce 5 minute presentation in format to be
uploaded to Blackboard Blogs
o Directed to screencasting software, podcasts
o Assessment: 20 % self-, 50 % peer- and 30%
tutor- assessment

4. Example
Presentations

5. Assessment
o Assessment criteria developed with students
o Self-Assessment when presentation submitted
o Peer-Assessment in small groups
o Limits number of presentation students have to mark
o Self-Assessment and Reflection AFTER Peer-
Assessment
o Tutor-Assessment

6. Self-Assessment 1

7. Participation in Assessment
1st Self-
Assessment
Peer-
Assessment
Feedback
Tutor-
Assessment
Feedback
2nd Self-
Assessment &
Reflection
No. Students 52 145 54 31
Words 3343 10569 2218 1327
17,457 words of feedback and self-reflection to 54 students.
52 participated to some degree in self- and peer- assessment
Some penalties imposed on those who did not participate (no
marks for self-assessment, reduced marks for peer-assessment)
Fewer participants in 2nd self- assessment/reflection

8. Tutor Assessment Feedback

9. “Peer-marking is useful, but having it become a part of the other
students grade seems unfair on the marker. I personally find it too
much pressure. “
“Yes it was useful. Saw how other people carried out there
presentations etc. Highlighted flaws in my own presentation I will
know for another time.“
“the peer marks should not be worth more than 20%...Lectures
marks should have been worth a lot more”
“This was a very different and interesting way to assess the module
as it allowed a certain amount of freedom in terms of chosen
topics. Also, it allows you to learn about many different topics from
other students' point of view.”
Student Feedback

10. I would have preferred to give my presentation
directly to a small group of my class
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 strongly
disagree
2 3 no opinion 4 5 strongly
agree

11. 0
5
10
15
20
1 very poor 2 3 average 4 5 very
good
I would rate my ability to use computers
as:
0
5
10
15
20
1 strongly
disagree
2 3 no
opinion
4 5 strongly
agree
My ability to use computers and
software made this task too difficult.

12. Hints and Tips
1 form for all assessment makes compiling feedback easier
GoogleDocs forms very useful for assessment of this sort
Random groups for peer-assessment with some
‘manipulation’ recommended – limits students to marking
4 or 5 presentations.
Best presentations were those the students had to come
up with themselves.
Don’t be afraid of the technology – our students are better
at this than we are!